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29/11/2021
County Matches, 2021-22
The
anticipated NCCU December Meeting, due to take place on 4th December 2021,
face to face or by Zoom, seems to have fallen through, seemingly due to lack
of engagement by most county delegates contacted by the NCCU secretary.
Consequently the competitions controller, Bryan Bainbridge, has contacted
captains and others directly by phone or e-mail, and the situation with
Northern Counties’ over-the-board inter-county competitions has been
clarified, entries being as follows:
County
|
Open
|
U-2050
|
U-1850
|
U-1650
|
U-1450
|
Cheshire
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cleveland
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cumbria
|
|
|
|
yes
|
|
Durham
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lancashire
|
yes
|
yes
|
yes
|
yes
|
yes
|
Merseyside
|
|
|
|
|
|
Northumberland
|
yes
|
|
|
|
|
Yorkshire
|
yes
|
yes
|
yes
|
yes
|
yes
|
Total
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
2
|
Minutes
of the Zoom AGM back in July record it was said Northumberland would be entering
two teams and that Merseyside intended to enter a team. Also a combined
Durham-cum-Cleveland team was being mooted. If these three extra teams
had materialised, then, depending on which sections were entered, there could
in theory have been six teams in the U-1650. In the event, these extra
teams evaporated, which may be due to Covid or may be due to over-optimism in
the first place.
Fixtures,
as yet without dates, are as follows:
Open
|
Yorkshire home to Lancashire
|
|
Lancashire home to Northumberland
|
|
Northumberland home to Yorkshire
|
|
|
U2050
|
Lancashire home to Yorkshire
|
|
|
U1850
|
Yorkshire home to Lancashire
|
|
|
U1650
|
Cumbria home to Lancashire
|
|
Yorkshire home to Cumbria
|
|
Lancashire home to Yorkshire
|
|
|
U1450
|
Yorkshire home to Lancashire
|
Matches
have to be played before the end of March 2022, in time for the NCCU to
submit 1st and 2nd nominations to the ECF for the corresponding sections of
the English Counties’ competitions. In this connection, Lancashire has
indicated it will not wish to progress to the ECF U-1850 competition, and
Cumbria has in the past elected not to proceed to the ECF competitions.
Yorkshire
captains, as things stand at present, are
Open:
|
Peter
Ackley
|
U-2050:
|
Dave
Patrick
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U‑1850:
|
Rupert Jones
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U-1650:
|
David
Mills
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U-1450:
|
David
Mills
|
Some guidance as to arrangements for matches with regard to Covid
(those used by Cumbria) have been issued, these being as follows:
Recommendations for helping manage
the risk from Covid when arranging matches
for the 2021/22 Season
These
recommendations are designed to assist all chess clubs within Cumbria but
responsibility for managing the Covid risk within a club venue rests with
each individual club.
The
recommendations are subject to any changes in the overall Covid situation
or to Government advice
·
Provide
as much ventilation as possible
·
Distance
boards as far apart as practical within the space confines of the venue
·
Possibly
use two tables or lengthwise tables to distance players whilst still making
it possible to reach the board and clocks
·
Clean
boards, pieces and clocks before and after use
·
Provide
sanitiser for everybody’s use
·
No
obligation to shake an opponent’s hand either before or after the game
·
Mask
wearing should be a matter of individual choice rather than a requirement
·
Vaccination
should not be a requirement of participation
·
Anyone
subject to a positive Covid test should be prohibited from participation
·
Team
captains should contact each other before a match to establish and mitigate
any specific concerns
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